Cattle-guard



PATENTED FEB. 16, 1904.

A. B. LAWSON. CATTLE GUARD. APPLIOATIOE FILE D DEC. 7, 1903- N0 -HODEL.

ing is a specification.

UN IT-ED STATES Patented February 16. 1904.

"PATENT OFFICE.

CATTLE-GUARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 752,294, dated February 16, 1904. \y hcativn filed December 7, 1903. Serial No. 184,089. (No model.)

in the county of Loudoun and State of Virginia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Cattle-(aruards, of which the follow- The main object of my invention is to provide a cattle-guard which shall be an improveinent over existing devices of that nature, and in designing means to carry out-that object I have had in mind the desirability of simplicity in construction, durability, reliability, and safety in operation, for all these characteristics are essential in order that a cattle-guard of the type tobe described may successfully meet the requirements of actual use upon the railroads.

The means which I have employed to satisfy these requirements will .now be described in detail, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my im-v proved cattle-guard as it appears in actual use on a railroad. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 2 2 of Fig.1.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view through the road-bed and rails, showing the guard in end elevation. a

In the figures, 1 indicates the rails, and 2 the ties, of an ordinary railroad-track. At the place where the cattle-guard is to be located a tie. is omitted or removed and a trench is dug between the two remaining adjacent ties, as indicated at The depth of this trench is governed by the distance between said tics. Thus assuming-that distance to be about three feet the trench maybe from one foot to onefoot and a half in depth, the reason forwhich will be apparent from the description which follows of the operation of my device. Midway between the two remaining ties 2 2 and immediately beneath the rails 1 1 two posts 4 4 are erected, cut away at the'topto receive the flanges of the rails, as indicated at'5. In

practice these-posts will be securely held at the bottom'of the trench by inserting them in 1 holes dug therein and tamping the earth solidly around them, and this, taken in connection with-jthc construction by which said posz.

fit snugly on the flanges of the rails, enables them to serve the double function of stand ends for the cattle-guard proper in the manner to be described and of supports for the rails at the place where the tie has been removed. Running transversely of the track and journaled in apertures in the posts 4 4 a.

short distance below the tops of said posts is a shaft 6, extending laterally the full width of the trench, which is dug entirely across the road-bed, so as to cause the guard to effectively prevent the straying of cattle onto the tree r.

A metal plate 7 is securely clamped to the shaft 6, as byv the brackets indicated at 8, and extends practically from rail to rail and from tie to tie, so as to substantially cover the trench, and similar plates 9 9 of the necessary width are securely clamped in thev same way to the end portions of the shafts 6 outside of the rails. 1 Of course, if preferred, the shaft 6 maybe held so as not to turn in the posts,

and in that case the plates '7 and 9 would be rotati'vely mounted on said shaft, which modification would be the equivalent of the con,- struction shown, in which modifications and changes may be made-su'ch, for example, as providing bushings for the shaft 6 in the p'osts 4 4without in any way departing from the principle of operation of my invention.

Each of the plates 7 and 9 is provided at its ends adjacent to the tics 2 with upwardly-projecting'flanges 10, which extend up approximately to the-levcl'of the bottom bf the rails or to that of the top of the ties, although, if preferred, said flanges may extend somewhat higher. 7

The lower-ends of the posts 4 4 are preferably braced by a cross-piece 11, which serves also for the attachment of one end of each of two tension-springs '12 12, the other. ends of which are secured to the under side of the plate 7 near its outer ends, as shown. Should the cross-piece 11 not be used, however, the springs 12, of which four may be employed, if desired, would beattached directly to the posts 4 4, with their upper ends near the sides of the plate 7, or any other arrangement of springs and attaching means may be used,

the only requisite being that the springs act The operation of the device will now be ap- When an animal attempts to pass parent. onto the track, if it steps over the flange 10 onto either the plate 7 or one of the plates 9 the plate will immediately be depressed,which will cause the animal to draw back in fear,

the flange 10, acting -to prevent its feet from slipping off the plate into the trench and the springs 12 limiting the downward movement of that end of the plate upon which the-animal has stepped and acting to return the plates to the horizontal as soon as the weight of the animal is removed. The upraised opposite end of the plate effectually bars the further advance of the animal should it attempt to continue.

I It willthus be seen that I have devised a cattle-guard which is extremely simple to construct and-install and which will prove a perfectly reliable means to prevent the passage of cattle. onto the track of a railroad andat the same time act without danger of injury to an animal attempting such passage.

As indicated above, various changes and modifications may be made in the details of construction and assemblage of the device Without materially changing its nature and method of operation or departing from the principle of my invention, which is defined in the following claims.

- What I claim is 1. A cattle-guard for railroads, comprising a centrally-pivoted plate provided with upwardly-extending flanges at its outer ends and means to normally maintain said plate horiz'on'tal. i I

2. A cattle-guard for railroads, comprising plates pivotally supported at their centers between and outside of the rails and provided with upwardly-extending flanges at their outer ends, and yielding means to normally maintain said plates horizontal.

3. A cattle-guard for railroads, comprising a plate extending between the rails andpivotally supported at its center, a plate at the outside of each rail pivotally supported at its center, upwardly-extending flanges on the ends of said plates, and springsto normally maintain said plates horizontal. 1 v v 4:. A cattle-guard for railroads, comprising a post beneath each rail taking theplaceof 5. -A cattle-guard for railroads, comprising two posts oppositely located in a trench extending transversely ofthe road-bed, the tops of said posts being constructed to fit on the flanges of the rails, a shaftpassing transversely through said posts a short distance beneath the r'ails,plates centrally mounted to swing about the axis of said shaft as a center and springs to normally maintain said plates horizontal.

6. A cattle-guard for railroads, comprising two posts oppositely located in a trench extending transversely of the road-bed, the tops of saidposts being constructed to fit on the flange of the rails, a shaft passing transversely through said posts a short distance beneath ,the rails, plates centrally mounted to swing about the axis of said shaft as a center, said platesbeing provided with upwardly-extending flanges at their outer ends and springs to normally maintain said plates horizontal.

' 7 A cattle-guard for railroads, comprising two .posts securely ,held in the center of a trench extending transversely of the road-bed, said posts acting to support the rails in the .place of a tie, a shaft journaled transversely in said posts a short distance below the rails, a plate centrally secured to said shaft between the rails, a plate centrally secured to said shaft on the outer side of each rail, and yielding means to normally maintain said plates horizontal.

. 8. A cattle-guard for railroads, comprising two posts securely held in the center of a trench extending transversely of the road-bed, said posts being shaped to fit the flanges of the rails and to support the rails in the place of a tie, a shaft journaled in said posts and carrying centrally mounted thereon a plate between the rails and a plate on the outside of each rail, each of said plates beingprovided on its opposite ends with upwardly-extending flanges, and yielding means to normally maintain said plates horizontal.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

ALFRED B. LAWSON.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR H. LAWSON,

S. E. Romans. 

